WASHINGTON, United States — Researchers said Monday that new techniques have allowed them to identify the oldest solid material ever found on earth. "They're solid samples of stars, real stardust," Heck said in a statement. To separate the ancient grains from the relatively younger ones, scientists crushed fragments of the meteorite into a powder. Now, researchers have been able to determine the age of 40 grains, most of which are between 4.6 billion and 4.9 billion years old. "These are the oldest solid materials ever found, and they tell us about how stars formed in our galaxy," Heck said.

Source: Philippine Star January 14, 2020 03:00 UTC